Archives For
Finals 2010

From Kevin Arnovitz, TrueHoop: There’s nothing particularly explosive about Paul Pierce’s offensive game. He’s more resourceful than dynamic, more craftsman than artist, a scorer who relies on space more than velocity. In Game 5 on Sunday night, Pierce applied his trade with precision. In the first half, he relied on a steady diet of high screens to draw mismatches against the Lakers’ big men, then launch his step-back jumper. In the second half, Pierce found opportunities in isolation against Ron Artest.

From Kurt Helin, Pro Basketball Talk: Walking into the locker room after a crucial Game 5 loss, Kobe Bryant could be heard going on an expletive-filled tirade at his team. His comment later to Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski was telling. “We’ve regressed since Game 1,” Bryant confessed to Yahoo! Sports. “Our defense belongs on milk cartons in the last two games.” A few minutes after Bryant’s venting to his team, Phil Jackson was in front of the media with a different demeanor. He was trying to be positive.

From Dexter Fishmore, Silver Screen and Roll: If you’re a Laker, you have but one request for the flight back to Los Angeles tomorrow morning: a seat other than the one next to Kobe Bryant. You don’t want to sit by him, you don’t want to look at him, you frankly shouldn’t be breathing the same air. Just find yourself a spot in the luggage hold, and stay out of his sight. The Mamba’s anger has been on a low simmer all playoffs long, and after tonight’s calamity, an 86 to 92 Game Five loss to the Boston Celtics, we can officially put Kobe on core-meltdown alert. He did what he could to keep the Lakers alive in this one, ripping off 38 points, but from his supporting cast exactly no one came even close to matching his effort or production. Brink, meet the Lakers. Lakers, brink.

From Brian Kamenetzki, Land O’ Lakers: Kobe Bryant is a tough man to keep down. Even in 2008, when Boston made his task so difficult even Sisyphus himself would have looked at him and thought, “Man, that’s hard,” Bryant still went off for a 36 point, 12-for-20 effort in Game 3. Through four games of this year’s Finals, Bryant has hardly been invisible, but also not the otherworldly figure we saw through the first three rounds of the postseason. Coming out of the half in Game 5, with his team down six, he was apparently ready for his closeup.

From Mike Trudell, Basket Blog: The Lakers battled the Celtics throughout a Game 5 in Boston that defined the fight-for-every-inch cliche, but couldn’t make enough shots, or get enough stops, to prevent a 92-86 loss that sent the Purple and Gold back to Los Angeles down 3-2 in the NBA Finals.L.A. managed to stay within six points at the half despite being out shot by 33 percent (66 to 33), but things began to get away in the third even as Kobe Bryant went on a phenomenal individual run to score his team’s first 19 points.

From Kelly Dwyer, Ball Don’t Lie: All season long, while the offense went up and down, the defense stayed about the same. Consistently great defense, mind you. The Los Angeles Lakers regressed significantly on the offensive end in 2009-10, falling to 11th in the NBA in offensive efficiency after coming in third the year before, but the team’s defense stayed at just about a top three clip all season until a mini-swoon to end the regular season dropped them from fourth, up from sixth last year. Though it wasn’t pointed out as much, this was their bedrock. The thing to rely on when the ball movement stopped, and even Kobe Bryant couldn’t keep things close.

THE PAPERS

From Kevin Ding, Orange County Register: Maybe the Lakers rally at home to win this NBA championship, maybe not. Either way, there will come a time next spring when they’re sitting in a foreign locker room and their stomachs are churning a bit with the pressure of having to win a pivotal road playoff game. And at that moment, Kobe Bryant can rightly turn to his shaggy-headed Lakers co-star and say: “You owe me something, Spaniard. Now show me something.”

From Jeff Miller, Orange County Register: In their biggest game yet, they sure didn’t look like defending NBA champions. Or, more significantly, the NBA’s next champions. The Lakers instead looked like a team sputtering on fumes – out of position on some plays, out of gas on others. It was strange, disarming and disappointing. The Lakers who aren’t Kobe Bryant picked an unfortunate time to no-show, losing Sunday, 92-86, and now a defeat away from finishing No. 2 behind the annoying Celtics yet again.

From Mike Bresnahan, Los Angeles Times: Paul Pierce raised his right index finger and yelled out “One more, baby!” as he walked off the court, surrounded by a mob of TV cameras as adoring Boston Celtics fans cheered wildly. No, this wasn’t the way the Lakers wanted to return to Los Angeles, overpowered and outmuscled by a more physical team in a 92-86 loss in Game 5 that had them standing near the cliff of elimination in the NBA Finals. The game was more of a gap than the scoreboard offered, the Lakers never leading after 37-36 and nobody other than Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol scoring in double figures for them, the latter barely doing it with an underwhelming 12-point effort.

From Vincent Bonsignore, Los Angeles Daily News: By the time Kobe Bryant reached the podium in the interview room Sunday at TD Garden, the Lakers’ 92-86 loss to the Boston Celtics in Game 5 of the NBA Finals was already a distant memory to him. “I’ve forgotten all about it,” he insisted. The Lakers returning home down three games to two to the Celtics hardly seemed a concern, the world champions needing to win the next two games to claim this series and their second title in row mere details. The entire city of Los Angeles might be going crazy with worry, anxiously bracing for the worst as the Lakers return home to try and stave off the hated Celtics. But Bryant seemed cool, calm and collected, not even a hint of concern or apprehension.

THE MAJORS

From Steve Aschburner, NBA.com: Every time Boston coach Doc Rivers talked about it — and usually he was the one raising the topic, early and often over the past week and a half — he did so with an odd sense of calm. Eventually, Rivers would remind almost anyone who would listen, Kobe Bryant was going to hang “a big number” on his team in a 2010 NBA Finals game. And the Celtics would have to try to win in spite of it. It sounded less like a promise or a challenge to his players, frankly, and more like the way one faces other inevitable, unenviable and grim tasks in life. Such as tax audits, trips to the periodontist or home videos of the neighbors’ vacation to Chattanooga. And then it happened: the Black Mamba struck.

From J.A. Adande, ESPN.com: he summation of the Lakers’ Game 5 in Boston came from the postgame news conference moderator, who announced that Phil Jackson would speak first, then Doc Rivers, a yet-to-be-determined number of Celtics players, and finally: “It looks like L.A. will only be Kobe in here.” It made perfect sense, since it was only Kobe out there on the court. At one point Kobe Bryant had scored half of the Lakers’ points: 29 of 58. He finished with 38 in the Lakers’ 92-86 loss. Bryant also led them with four assists and had the team’s lone blocked shot. No other Laker did anything of value. Andrew Bynum played more than 31 minutes and reported no issues with his injured right knee, but grabbed only one rebound. Ron Artest couldn’t keep Paul Pierce from unleashing a 27-point night, while Artest missed seven of his nine field goal attempts and two free throws with 43.3 seconds remaining that extinguished the Lakers’ last hope for victory. The Celtics have made him the primary outlet for when Bryant is doubled, and Artest hasn’t made them pay consistently.

From Chris Sheridan, ESPN.com: On a night when the Boston Celtics looked to be 20 points better — heck, maybe even more — than the Los Angeles Lakers, the lead was down to a precarious five points with 39 seconds left when the signature play of Game 5 of the NBA Finals unfolded. Kevin Garnett was inbounding from the sideline in the backcourt, there were 20 seconds left on the shot clock, and the Lakers were pressing man-to-man all over the court as Garnett was handed the ball. Suddenly, Paul Pierce sprinted from the foul line closest to Garnett and headed for the frontcourt, and Garnett fired a high-arching lead pass toward where Pierce was heading. Pierce and Derek Fisher jumped simultaneously, and the taller of the two caught the ball. Pierce quickly spun toward the Celtics’ basket as he was falling out of bounds, rifling a bullet pass toward Rajon Rondo as he made a beeline to the basket.

Last night’s loss was tough to stomach. The Celtics didn’t just win, but they controlled the tempo, they dictated the Lakers offense and had their most impressive offensive performance of these Finals, shooting 56 percent from the field including 66 percent in the first half – but it never seemed as if the game was out of reach until the final buzzer rang. On the flip side, the Lakers never were in sync offensively, it was one of their worst defensive performances this post season and they weren’t able to make any of the big plays the Celtics were able to make down the stretch, but still, a comeback didn’t seem improbable until the game was actually over.

The Lakers came out early and were aggressive attacking the rim. The ball went to Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum early and often, the theme for the Lakers this post season. Bynum was much more active than he was in Game 4 and combined with Derek Fisher to score the Lakers first 15 points of the game with ‘Drew scoring six of the 15. And that’s exactly what the Lakers wanted early – good contributions from guys not named Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol to open up things for their stars later in the game.

The problem is, things really didn’t open up for anyone later in the game as the Celtics defense was stingy all night. We got to spend the first half watching the Boston defense put a clinic on how to stop a star with team defense and it started with Ray Allen. Allen did a great job of just being in a position to get a hand up on all of Kobe’s jumpers. The Celtics did what they could to funnel Kobe to where help would be and forcing other guys to make shots. Early in the game, I sent Darius a text saying that the Lakers success is going to depend on whether or not role players were going to be able to knock down the wide open looks they were going to be given – in Game 5, they didn’t knock down those shots.

Ron Artest was the recipient of a lot of those Kobe passes out of double teams and ended up shooting two for nine. Derek Fisher contributed zero points after scoring nine of the first 15 for the Lakers – he also shot two for nine. Jordan Farmar? 0 for four. The Celtics have decided that they’re just going to pack the paint and force Kobe to make contested jumpers or take their chances with the Lakers other parameter guys, and it’s working. Not only does this bring down the efficiency of the Lakers parameter players, but it reduces the overall efficiency of the offense. By packing the paint, they’ve made it much easier to defend Pau Gasol, who has seen his productivity decrease significantly since averaging 24 points and 11 rebounds in the first two games of this series. In Game 5, he had a line of 12 and 12, a far cry from his 23 and 14 performance in Game 1. The Celtics have a great defensive scheme, and the Lakers have made it easy on them by not moving the ball and not dribbling with purpose. They’ve taken way too many outside jumpers, which have led to better scoring opportunities for the Celtics.

However, it would be irresponsible to just blame this loss on the Lakers collective lack of offensive efficiency. They were just terrible defensively. Paul Pierce went to work on the Lakers early, and the Celtics found something that the Lakers had trouble defending. Instead of trying to free up Paul Pierce in screen and roll situations, they simply put him in iso situations and allowed him to go to work. I haven’t seen so many 1-4 low sets for one offensive player in a very long time. Pierce scored affectively against Ron Artest, Lamar Odom and Luke Walton. He was able to hit big-shot-after-big-shot, even some extremely tough ones with a defender draped all over him, and when he was double-teamed, he made the right plays – and when he didn’t make the play, other guys stepped up. Kendrick Perkins had a nice tip over Gasol. Rajon Rondo had a HUGE tip in over Kobe and LO.

It was those kind of plays that made all of the difference in this game. Tony Allen had that block on Pau Gasol and Paul Pierce made that great pass to an alert Rajon Rondo on that crucial inbounds play. Down the stretch for the Lakers, the watch rebounds go off of their hands out of bounds, they missed free throws and didn’t grab loose balls. The Celtics made all of the hustle plays down the stretch after Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo put them in a position to win it.

I will say that Kobe did have an ultra explosive third quarter. He scored 17 of his 19 points in the first six minutes of the quarter. There was a point where he had scored 23 straight for the Lakers and had 10 of the Lakers 20 field goals. Kobe literally kept the Lakers within reach hitting some of the toughest jump shots you’re going to see a man make, but it just wasn’t enough. Kobe dropping 38 would have gotten the Lakers a victory against the Suns, Jazz or Thunder, but not against a Boston team that is going to make the little plays that win championships.

The series shifts back to Los Angeles for Games 6 and 7, and if the Lakers are going to pull this thing out, they’re going to have to tighten up their defense and move the ball offensively. It’s not something that cannot be done, but those are the kind of things that make champions. Tuesday we’re going to find out if this Lakers team has the resolve to bounce back from being down in a playoff series. I know that they have all of the tools to get it done, it’s just a matter of focus and execution.

Either late tonight or early tomorrow morning, both the Lakers and the Celtics will be returning to Los Angeles to continue competing in the NBA Finals. But it will be the results of tonight’s game that put one of these teams in prime position to win the championship. The winner of tonight’s game 5 will only need one more vicotory to claim the 2010 NBA title. I’ve thought for a little while now that the first team to 3 wins will take this series. And after seeing how these Finals have become a back and forth affair where no team can really get a foothold by winning more than one game in a row, I believe this even more. Believe me, I’d much rather be in the Lakers position with 2 games waiting in my home arena, but having to win 2 consecutive games to take this series is going to be difficult for either team regardless of location. So if game 4 was a must win for the Celtics, I see this as a must win for both teams. Neither group wants to be one loss away from elimination.

And to earn this win, the question (again) is who will step up and play at that high level and give the performance that their team can hang their hat on? Kelly Dwyer is looking for Kobe Bryant to be that player and to a large extent I agree. I’ve talked a great deal about how the Lakers can try to crack the code of Boston’s defense; how they can run actions within the Triangle to get Pau good shots. How if they screen hard and cut hard they’ll not only get good looks in the post but other players moving off the ball will find the creases in the defense to get the makeable shots that every offense craves. But, Dwyer is also correct that this Celtics’ defense is a tremendous outfit that is taking nearly every first – not to mention second and sometimes third – option away. And when that’s the case, you need that tremendous effort from the nearly unguardable player to get points.

And in this series, that player is Kobe. Kobe will need his jumper tonight. He’ll need that excellent first step. He’ll need to draw fouls, get to the foul line, and take the momentum of the game in his hands and control it the way a samurai wields his sword. I’m not looking for Kobe to be the hero and play one on five. I’m looking for Kobe to control the game – there is a difference. He was able to achieve this against Utah and Phoenix by going into the post and making an unbelievable number of contested jumpers. Tonight, he may need to do the same to keep it so the Lakers never do trail in this series. I want to see him attack early and not depend on reading the defense at every turn to get a shot. I want to see him get the Celtics on their heels by using all facets of his tremendous skill set. Kobe knows the stakes, I think he’s ready to give one of those performances that make him the Kobe that we’ve followed his entire career.

But Kobe will also need help. Help that a good-to-go Andrew Bynum can hopefully provide. We all saw how having Bynum not able to play his normal share of minutes affected game 4. The C’s scored inside at will and owned the rebounding battle by grabbing 16 offensive rebounds. So having ‘Drew back will be major boost. Phil’s looking for 24 minutes from Bynum and if that can be provided, I think the Lakers will be able to effectively stagnate the C’s defense in the manner they have for most of this series.

The other player I’m looking to is Lamar Odom. He’s been a whipping boy around these parts for some time and his performance in this series has only raised the decibel level from those that rail against his inconsistencies. However, we also all know that Odom can be a difference maker. Odom knows this fact as well. But if LO is going to have the impact on this game that we know is possible, he’s going to have to get back to doing “Lamar” types of things. That means rebounding on the defensive end and pushing the ball back at Boston (like he did on a play in game 4 where he grabbed a rebound, pushed the ball, kicked ahead to Pau, then got the ball back and finished with an and one). It also means getting back to being active on the defensive end by hustling around the court, trapping ball handlers, and then recovering back to the defensive glass to rebound. Odom can not be a spectator for any of the minutes he spends between the lines tonight; he must be the player that is assertive and grabbing at the action with his long left arm. LO is capable of changing the tenor of a game and there would be no better night than tonight to make that happen.

The Celtics are also going to have their say in how this game plays out. They’re going to try and build on their success of game 4 and take their first series lead tonight. They’ll surely look to get Ray Allen back on track while also looking to get a sustained performance from Paul Pierce (who had a very good 1st quarter of game 4 with a dwindling impact over the rest of the game). Another key for the C’s will be getting Rondo going again after not doing much of consequence after his triple-double in game 2. He is the conduit for their most successful brand of basketball and it’s no wonder that the C’s have performed no where near their peak with Rondo not performing up to the standard that he’d set for most of these playoffs. And we can’t forget that they’ll try to accomplish of this while continuing to play their stifling defense.

There are obviously more keys than the ones that I’ve mentioned – rebounding, playing with poise, making the little plays that generate momentum for your side or taking it away from your opponent – but in the end, these teams are so familiar with each other that one of the aforementioned factors will likely tilt this game in either the Lakers or Celtics’ favor.

And so here we are. The NBA Finals have been reduced to a best of three series and tonight’s game is a major opportunity to gain the advantage that was not possible before this point. As I mentioned, tonight’s winner will be on the precipice of claiming a championship by getting to 3 wins. The stakes have never been higher. Tonight we see which team has what it takes to go back to LA with the series lead that will likely be the difference in the ultimate outcome of the Finals. Phil Jackson has been mentally prepping his team to be the team that achieves just that. Let’s see if they can go get it. Game on.

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Somewhere between Ron Artest jostling with Paul Pierce only minutes into Game 1 of the Finals and Big Baby howling at a delirious TD Banknorth Garden in Game 4, it hit me: this era’s version of Lakers vs. Celtics is finally, officially a bona fide rivalry. A simple comparison of past and present makes the difference clear.

Second-rate Rivalries
So much of the hype leading up to the 2008 Finals and to a lesser extent, these NBA Finals too, has revolved around the unmatched history between these two teams. Magic vs. Larry. The glamour of L.A. vs. the hard-nosed nature of Bean Town. Slick forum blue and gold vs. that hideous shade of green. We know all the major players by now. We know the stakes. We’ve watched for countless years as networks have tried to force rivalries down our throats with cheesy choir-inspired music, flashing images and the bold-worded promise that everything changes now. And then, more often than not, the Lakers prevail and it’s on to the next great up-and-coming rival.
The fact that the series is even at two after four games helps, but that alone is far from enough to create a lasting rivalry. During the Kobe era Lakers, the team has certainly had its fair share of bad blood with a number of teams. We all remember the Chris Webber and Mike Bibby-led Sacramento Kings and the shot heard ‘round the world in Game 4 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals. The Kings were like a more experienced, veteran savvy version of this year’s Oklahoma City Thunder – full of energy and lacking the fear you would expect when a young team is playing against the preeminent franchise in the league. There was undoubtedly a whole lot of nasty in Lakers vs. Kings – Phil Jackson’s “cow town” comment, Rick Fox and Doug Christie’s tumble during a pre-season game, Vlade Divac’s “lucky shot” remark and of course, cowbells. At the end of the day though, as much as most fans of the forum blue and gold still feel disdain toward the league’s remaining former Kings players, they were never quite able to knock the Lakers off of their throne.

The same can be said for the Lakers’ other prominent pseudo-rivals over the past 10 years; close, but no cigar. The Steve Nash-led Suns have been a thorn in Kobe and Co.’s side for years now, but like Phoenix’s ever-changing roster, the level of animosity that breeds an “I hate your mother” caliber rivalry has been too inconsistent. Plus, when a solid 20% of your home arena is rooting for the road team, as is often the case when L.A. plays in the desert, I’m not sure that really screams rivalry either. The Nuggets began to make a case as the Lakers’ next great adversary last season, but their quick flame-out in this year’s playoffs proves that they’re nothing more than a poor man’s version of the Kings – young, talented, full of attitude, but ultimately not ready to take the reins just yet.

In reality, the Spurs are the only team who has truly given the Lakers an extended run for their money in the past decade. Not to dismiss the rivalry as mere playground fodder, but for me, Lakers vs. Spurs was always more about the two teams’ solid fundamentals and outstanding coaching than a true, fire in the belly, do-or-die style rivalry. San Antonio respected the Lakers and aside from a few misguided Manu Ginobli elbows, L.A. returned the sentiment.

Why Lakers vs. Celtics 2.0 is Special
Like the Yankees in the MLB, the Lakers – and their fans – rely on the type of rare competitive juice that only comes from competing against an arch nemesis. In both cases, those teams happen to reside in Boston. As much as fans of the pinstripes love to hate the Red Sox, they know that no other team will inspire the same level of emotion or possess the same ability to create the “special” sports moments that we all crave. I think the Lakers and Celtics work the same way; sure, it was fun to watch the Green slip into the NBA abyss for a good portion of the past decade, but at the end of the day, there’s nothing quite like beating your number one foe on the world’s biggest stage.

In 2008, that’s exactly what Boston did – defeat L.A. Celtics fans clamored for the Big Three to BEAT L.A. the entire series, but they went a step further by embarrassing us in the greatest comeback in Finals history in Game 4, before massacring the Lakers in a deciding Game 6. Look no further than the Black Mamba’s death stare for proof that L.A. isn’t still seething in anger. When you’re playing against a true rival, sometimes revenge isn’t enough. When a player like Paul Pierce proclaims the series isn’t coming back to L.A., you want to use your on-courts weapons to knock the smirk right off his face.

With so many players on both sides already in or entering “legacy time,” the stakes are even higher. Will Kobe still be considered the greatest Laker ever if he isn’t able to knock of his team’s long-time rival? To a lesser extent, Pau Gasol finds himself in a similar predicament – show up big in the final games of this series and he’s on the fast track to having his name retired by the Lakers someday. Boston’s Big Three of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen also face defining moments in their careers. While all three already boast Hall of Fame credentials, they’re out to prove that their 2008 instant title wasn’t a one-and-done. If KG’s injury before last year’s playoffs doesn’t happen and they go on to win this year, you can at least make a case that Boston would be on their way to a three-peat.

I think the most important attribute that makes this version of Lakers vs. Celtics a special rivalry is the familiarity and relative consistency of both teams’ rosters since their last Finals matchup. Though a few of the supporting players have changed in two years, the core nuclei for both teams remain intact. These two teams both know what it takes to get to the NBA’s promised land. On the court, they know how to guard each other; they know what pisses the other off most. They’re both under each other’s skins from the coaching staffs on down. So far in this series, both the Lakers and Celtics have responded to adversity. This is a familiar battle for these two teams and neither suffers from short-term memory loss.

Though steeped in history, this current rivalry isn’t so much about the Lakers and Celtics of yesteryear; this is about two evenly matched teams creating an imprint in a popular culture landscape dominated by the iPod and the Kardashians. Peoplecare about what happens in this series and if you don’t believe me, just check out the overnight ratings for Game 4, which earned the highest score since the 2004 Finals. While the 2008 Finals marked the latest incarnation for fans that grew up watching Lakers vs. Celtics, it merely served as a brief introduction for a new generation of Lakers fans. Two years later, and this rivalry is real as ever for everyone involved, and not just because the history books say so. The Kobe-led Lakers and the Big Three-led Celtics have all of the blood, sweat, and tears necessary to create another epic chapter in this storied rivalry.

[picappgallerysingle id=”9081111″]Some random NBA and Finals thoughts on this Saturday morning of World Cup action. Also, check back later this afternoon for a post from Jeff who will be taking a look at the rivalry wit the C’s…

I’m not sure how much I like that thought, but it’ll be interesting to see if Powell can improve our spacing and give Gasol the room he needs to operate. Also, he’ll need to battle with Big Baby on the boards (since he’ll likely get dominated by KG or Perkins, maybe even Sheed), so he’ll definitely have to show up physically because Big Baby probably has 50-60 pounds on him.

*One last point on Bynum, Matt Moore has a good read over at Pro Basketball Talk about the paradox that ‘Drew faces. I’m not sure what the best decision is for Bynum (play or sit), but I think it’s fair to say that he’s shown me a lot and made it clear how much this means to him.

*In this series, we’ve been talking about how the team that executes best down the stretch is the one that will win (that and who rebounds best). In game 4, that was Boston and over at NBA Playbook, we’re showed how they did it. Needless to say, it’s a bit painful watching the C’s bench carve up the Lakers starters. But, I think lessons can be learned here. Namely that the Lakers must also get back to running their sets with precision and dedication. Too often it’s the Lakers that are settling for isolation sets that only yield a difficult shot against a contesting defender and an expiring shot clock. The Lakers must do better than that.

*I’ve you haven’t been able to watch the Finals, I feel a bit bad for you. Sure the games have, at times, been a bit foul plagued and the rhythm of the games have been thrown off somewhat. But, the competitiveness of this series has been extremely high and there have been some great performances so far. I say all this because nba.com has been putting together these “mini movies” that summarize the action quite nicely. If you haven’t checked them out, you should. I’ve embedded the ones for games 1-4 below. Enjoy. And remember, check back this afternoon for Jeff’s post…

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There’s only so many ways you can deal with an injury. As the player that’s actually injured, Andrew Bynum is doing them all. He’s skipping practices to rest, he’s getting treatment, and he’s playing in obvious discomfort to try and help the team. Really, there’s nothing else the Lakers or us fans can ask from from Bynum that he’s not already doing.

But, Bynum isn’t the only one that has to find a way to deal with this injury. The other Lakers players and coaches must also figure out a way for this team to still be effective when one of it’s key players is limited in the way that Bynum is. So, here are a few things that I think the Lakers can do to if Bynum is going to be as limited as he was on game 4:

1). Get Lamar Odom going. Really this is a need regardless if Bynum is playing well or not, whether he’s full strength or hobbled. Odom is an essential part of this team’s success so finding ways to get him going is important. In game 3 and in the 4th quarter of game 4, Odom found some ways to be successful on offense which is a good start. However, Odom must still find ways to play effective defense and rebound against the C’s big men. One player that has given Odom real problems is Big Baby Davis. Davis has used the combination of girth and quick feet to knock Odom off his spot when attacking the basket off the dribble and when going after rebounds. I think Zephid made a great point in the comments about how Odom can start to neutralize what Davis has been doing best – attacking the basket and finishing inside:

Odom is paying too much respect to Big Baby’s jump shot. Big Baby was able to score so easily because he has a surprisingly quick first step. Once he got his shoulder past Odom, he was able to muscle his way to the basket and use his girth to get space for the finish. If Odom lays off Big Baby and tells him, “Hey, take that 15 footer; I’d rather you make a jumpshot than get a lay-up and/or get a foul.” Laying off Big Baby will solve all of Odom’s problems…Big Baby is a catch-and-shooter; he’s not a catch-and-hold-and-shooter. If Odom just backs off 2-3 feet, he can cut off Big Baby’s drives and still semi-contest his jump shot because Big Baby just cannot rise as high as a guy like KG. The one jumper Big Baby took yesterday he clanked, so we’ve gotta make him start hitting that shot. If he starts burning us from 10-15 feet, only then should we make a change.

Offensively, I think Odom has to rely less on isolation drives. And I say this for two reasons – first, because Davis is a nimble footed defender that does a good job of staying with him on his drives and second, because Boston is a team that thrives on cutting down penetration angles and LO is not finding the openings that he has in past series. This isn’t to say that LO should abandon this tactic, but I think he needs to mix in more off the ball movement where he’s cutting and flashing from the weak side when Pau and Kobe have the ball and are demanding the attention that have so far in the series.

2). Phil must go deeper into his bench. Many will point to bringing in Mbenga and Powell and giving them more burn with the starting group so that Odom and Pau won’t have to play as many minutes while also keeping Odom in his role as the primary reserve. I’m half way on board with this. I do think that Phil needs to ensure that Pau and Odom get the rest they need so they can be effective in the closing stages of the game. Last night, both players were gassed after playing the entire second half. So, some spot minutes for these guys in the middle portion of the quarters (near the mandatory time outs) or at the end of the quarters (to take advantage of the longer breaks) would be a good idea, if only to get these guys those extra few minutes of rest.

But, if Phil is really going to go deeper into his bench, I’d actually prefer that he play Luke and Sasha a bit more – especially Luke. In game 3, Walton was a +13 on the night in his 13 minutes of action. I think Luke’s smarts and savvy on offense would help the Lakers execution a great deal. He’s a guy that can get good looks for other players and is always one that’s thinking one step ahead on offense – something the Lakers need against a great defense like Boston’s. As for Sasha, I just think he’s earned a few extra minutes in this series. Even if it’s only 4-5 minutes a half, I think those minutes would allow Kobe to get a few extra minutes rest so he can be fresher down the stretch.

3). Play Ron more at PF against Davis. If Bynum really is going to be limited, those extra front court minutes have to go somewhere. And with all apologies to Mbenga and Powell, I’d rather it be Ron matching up with Big Baby than those two. Ron has the foot speed and the strength to battle Davis on his drives and the length to contest his jumper and still rebound effectively. Before the series started, Phil said that Davis is the type of player that Ron can play some PF against and I think he should see if his first instinct was right about that. I know we just got done talking about what Odom can do to effectively play Davis, but the C’s have four player rotation and there will be plenty of minutes to go around to match up with all of these players. If the Lakers hope to not wear out Odom and Gasol, they’ll need another player that they can trust in this PF rotation. And if Walton does see more minutes (as mentioned above), then Ron can be moved around a bit more and used in places where he’s most useful – which may just be matched up on Baby.

4). Push the pace more. I’ve been looking for this for a couple of games, but it has not yet materialized. The Lakers can push the pace against this team and get into their offense quicker. Odom, Fisher, and Kobe all need to get the ball up court faster to either get easy buckets early in the clock (which won’t be too often, but needs to be explored) or to get into their sets faster and create a flow to their game that’s been absent in this series. Boston’s slow down tactics aren’t just making the Lakers work deeper into the clock, it’s making the Lakers stagnant on offense. Too often, players are just standing around as if the slow pace has made them lazy in their half court movement. If the Lakers are to break out of their malaise, they need to kick start their sets and get things going earlier and with more punch in their step. Push the ball, look for early offense, pass early and cut often and see where it all gets you. I don’t think it could be worse than having Kobe end up taking a 20 foot contested jumper with less than 5 seconds on the shot clock.

I’m hoping that Bynum can play on Sunday and that he’ll be effective in his minutes. I hope we can see some of the guy from game 2; they guy that did all that damage to the C’s interior while scoring and contesting shots in the paint. But, if that guys not available or if he’s in uniform by severely limited, the Lakers will need to make adjustments. There are some of the things that I’m hoping to see. What about you guys?

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If there’s a theme for this series it’s that the team that has executed down the stretch is the one that has earned the victory. Game 4 proved no different as the Celtics were able to turn in a 36 point final period and take contest 96-89. They were the sharper team that executed better. They were the team that made the little plays; the hustle plays that influence the outcome. Simply put, they earned this win. So now, the NBA Finals are tied 2-2 and the fight for the championship is a best of three series.

There were several subplots to this game, but I’ll start with what I consider to be the biggest (literally and figuratively). Andrew Bynum tried to gut it out tonight, but he wasn’t able to really play on his bad wheel. Bynum played only 12 minutes on the evening and only 2 in the second half after starting the third quarter in the Lakers’ locker room rather than on the court with his other 4 starting mates. Bynum dragged his leg around like a sleepy toddler does his favorite blanket and while I give him a ton of credit for trying to help his team, he just didn’t have enough mobility to move in the half court to cut off angles on penetration or run the floor in a manner that allowed him to change ends with any real pace. And without Bynum’s size, this is a different Lakers team – especially against these Celtics. Boston was able to score well in the lane by getting 54 points in the paint while also winning the battle of boards 41-34, 16 of which were recoveries of their own misses.

The other big story was the battle of the benches, one that the Celtics won handily. Boston’s reserves outscored their Laker counterparts 36-18, doubling their point production and providing the difference in this game. Fueled by the darting Nate Robinson and the bruising Big Baby Davis , the C’s bench made the impression on this game and played that hero role that was up for grabs when the game hung in the balance. And while Robinson’s energy and relentless attacking of the basket was infectious, the player that really deserves credit for tilting this contest in the C’s favor was Davis. Big Baby scored 18 points on 10 shots, grabbed 5 rebounds (4 offensive), and was just a monster on the interior against whoever stood in his way. When asked after the game what he felt like, Davis simply said “I felt like a beast. I felt like I couldn’t be denied.” and truer words could not have been spoken. He was a beast and he couldn’t be denied. He used his quick feet, active hands, and wide frame to move bodies out of the way and get to the positions that he wanted to in order to finish inside. Really, he was the player of the game in my eyes. (On a side note, Big Baby is the exact type of player that gives Odom problems. I know people want to crush LO right now, and I get it as he’s been below average this series. But Davis has quick feet, tremendous power, and a low center of gravity. He’s excellent at creating space, taking it to the chest of players, and is crafty at finishing around the cup. Davis is just like Craig Smith – and this season you saw what Smith did to Odom in every Lakers/Clippers game. I’m not defending Odom, but again, this is just a tricky match up for Odom as he’s facing a guy that can defend him decently on the perimeter and one that attacks his willowy frame on the other end. I think the answer to Davis is Bynum, but alas he didn’t get any run tonight due to the knee.)

And due to the Lakers’ bench lack of production and Odom turning into a de facto starter because of Bynum’s injury, the Lakers really looked tired out there. I mean, Odom played 39 minutes, Kobe played 43, Pau played 43, and Artest played 42. That’s a combined 167 minutes for those 4 players and at the end of the game they just didn’t look they had much in the tank to compete with the fresher Celtics that they shared the court with. At the end of the game where the Lakers needed crisp offensive execution and stops on the defensive end, the Lakers didn’t have the legs to do what was necessary. Too many times the Lakers stood and watched as Kobe or Pau or Odom went one on 3 against a rotating Celtics defense. And on the other end the Lakers interior rotations were non existent as flat footed perimeter players got beat off the dribble. The domino effect of having a man down and ineffective bench players came back to haunt the Lakers late.

The other thing that haunted the Lakers was their inability to take care of the ball. The Lakers had 14 turnovers in the game (which isn’t a killer number), but too many of those came late in the contest where possessions were precious. And too many of them were made by Kobe and Pau (11 combined – with 7 of those being on Kobe’s stat line) – the two players you actually want with the ball ultimately making the mistakes that cost this team. And both of them had turnovers that were especially costly in crunch time as Pau forced a pass to a streaking Kobe (after he had gotten a steal himself) with only 1:37 left on the clock and the Lakers down 6 (ultimately allowing Boston to reset their offense and burn more clock). And then with only 33 seconds left and the Lakers still trailing by 6, Kobe repayed the favor by jumping to pass to Odom with Rondo then stepping in for the steal and lay up to ice the game. Again, the Lakers just didn’t execute down the stretch and that was the difference.

Even though I’ve only been focusing on what went wrong, not all was not terrible for the Lakers tonight. Gasol worked hard on offense and scored 21 points on 13 shots. He earned 10 trips to the foul line (making 9) and played an excellent inside outside game where he attacked the basket while still stroking a nice mid range jumper. Pau could have rebounded better, but some of his ineffectiveness on the glass was due to his having to help a lot on dribble penetration as the C’s broke down the Lakers perimeter defense. Kobe also played well as he found his jumper and was able to hit some of the shots that he’d missed over the past couple of games. Kobe ended the night with 33 points on 22 shots and grabbed 6 rebounds of his own. If they could have been a bit better in taking care of the ball, this game could have been different. But it wasn’t in the cards for them tonight and their strong efforts in the other parts of their game(s) got wasted a bit.

But in the end there were just too many mistakes. The Lakers didn’t rebound well enough, didn’t take care of the ball, and didn’t execute down the stretch. They had the lead going into the 4th quarter, but (as I mentioned earlier) gave up 36 points in the 4th quarter and didn’t get enough from their bench to give the starters the rest they’d need to close the game down. They now get two days off to think about the loss, regroup, and hopefully get Bynum healthy enough to contribute. I’m surely disappointed that the Lakers didn’t take advantage of their chances and grab that 3-1 lead, but a 2-2 tie is faaar from the end of the world. And in a series where neither team has won two in a row, I think there are things to feel good about going into game 5. So, stew on this loss Lakers (and us fans), but don’t fret too much. Another chance is coming and if this series has taught us anything, the Lakers will be ready to compete and be in the game at the end with a chance to win.

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It’s a cliche but still very true when it comes to playoff games – and especially NBA Finals games: the next game is always the most important. There have been countless stats recited as each game has passed (Phil’s record when winning game 1, the record of the game 3 winner when tied 1-1), but if the Lakers can win game 4they take a strangle hold on this series. Going up 3-1 would mean the Celtics need to win 3 consecutive games (including 2 on the road) to claim the championship. That’s not just an uphill climb, it’s damn near impossible when the teams are this evenly matched. Who will step up? Which team can thrive in the face of their biggest game this season? Tonight, we find out.

And while this is a team game, it will still come down to what individual players can be the ones to make a difference. So far this series, it’s been new players every night. Game 1 belonged to Kobe and Pau. Game 2 was Ray Allen and Rondo (though Pau and Bynum were also excellent). In game 3, Fisher’s late game heroics stole the show away from KG and his throwback performance. Tonight, will it be Kobe again? Will Pau bounce back from his fairly pedestrian game 3? What about Pierce and Allen – who were both substandard (especially Allen) on Tuesday? Or maybe it will be another role player – Artest or Odom, perhaps. Or maybe Bynum (surely playing, btw) will have another game that endears him to the Lakers fans as he battles his bad knee. From the C’s side, it’s potentially Nate, ‘Sheed, or maybe Big Baby builds on his solid game 3. Someone will put their individual stamp on this game and I’m anxious to see who can raise their game tonight.

But outside of these individuals, there are still the coaches and the adjustments that they have in store. In the last game, the Lakers made some subtle tweaks in marking Ray Allen and they paid off. They opened up their big men on the screen action so they simultaneously were in position to show out to play Allen on a switch while also giving the chaser more space to stay connected to Ray. And while Allen was still able to shake free on several possessions, the Lakers’ adjustment paid dividends as Allen was better covered more often and not nearly as hot as he was the previous game – leading to miss after miss.

Tonight, I expect to see some counters by the C’s to combat the Lakers game 3 approach. Maybe we’ll see the return of the screener opening up to make himself available to receive the pass in the heart of the Lakers D. Maybe the C’s will run this action more for Pierce who needs to get going on offense for the Celtics to get back into this series. Maybe the Celtics will go more to KG at the elbow and let him be the initiator of offense and let Rondo work off the ball as a cutter and screener to free up shooters on the weak side. Whatever options are employed the Lakers must be ready with their own counters in place.

Understand too that the C’s also need to make some defensive adjustments. They’re obviously one of the best defensive teams of the last decade, but in game 3 they gave up an offensive efficiency of 107.1 to the Lakers. While that’s not an extremely high number, it’s a full 8 points more than what they gave up in their game 2 win. The Lakers offensive success was masked by some poor shooting by Kobe and a slow pace, but the Lakers’ O was sneaky effective. If the C’s hope to bring that number back down, they’ll need to give up less than the 44 shots they gave up within 10 feet in game 3 by limiting offensive rebounds and denying the penetration lanes to players not named Kobe.

And what about the Lakers offensive adjustments? Down the stretch of game 3, we saw a Kobe/Fisher pick and roll that caught the C’s defense off guard, freeing Fisher up for his big shots. In this game I expect to see more variations of the Triangle to be put in place in order to get the Lakers the shots that they want. And while I’m unsure as to what they will be, I do know there are a few sets that I’d like to see the Lakers employ a bit more of. Sets that can hopefully counter the Celtics’ fantastic help and recover scheme.

First is the sideline initiation into the low post. Granted, the C’s are doing an excellent job of pushing Gasol off the block and making it more difficult for him to make catches in his sweet spot. So, the adjustment that I’d like to see is for the Lakers to start with an empty post by initiating the ball to the wing on the weak side. After the ball goes to the wing, I’d like for the guard to then cut through while the two big men on the ball side screen for each other so one of them can then cut to the ball side. This is an action the Lakers used a great deal against OKC in order to try and beat the fronting defense and to get post players moving towards the ball rather than fighting for position for long portions of the shot clock. Against Boston I think it can have a similar effect and give the Laker big men a chance to move towards the ball instead of wrestling for position. Wrestling that burns up energy and time on the shot clock.

Second, I’d like to see the Lakers initiate their offense more quickly. Too often in this series (especially in the second half of game 3) the Lakers walked the ball up and didn’t get into the motion of their sets until the shot clock was under 15 seconds. That doesn’t leave nearly enough time to allow players to screen and cut or for more than one (maybe two) options of the Triangle to play out. And when those options aren’t open, the result is often a forced jump shot that’s taken against the backdrop of a contesting defender as the clock is winding down. It’s situations like these in which the C’s defense excels and if the Lakers hope to be more successful, they’ll need to be better at avoiding these scenarios. So, I hope to see the Lakers secure rebounds and then push the ball up the court. The C’s are a very good transition defense team so I don’t expect a lot of open court baskets. But the seconds saved on the front end of the clock will pay dividends on the back end with better shots secured off of more options being explored.

Adjustments aside though, this game will really come down to poise, patience, execution, and that extra effort. Both teams are sure to play hard. But it will be the team that plays smarter in the face of extreme pressure that will win the day. It’s been that way in the first three games and I don’t expect it to change now. If the Lakers can do the things that win games – rebound, take care of the ball, avoid foul trouble (I know, easier said than done for both teams) – they’ll put themselves in a position to win the game. But, they’ll only be in position. In order to claim the prize, they must take that extra step and execute when up against a fantastic defense and a road crowd that is 100% against them.

It can be done, though. And the Lakers are a team capable of doing it. Remember, dating back to last season’s Finals (and including game 1 against Boston), the Lakers have won 7 of their last 11 playoff road games and clinched 4 series on the road. It’s never easy, but this team understands the pressure of these types of games and what’s needed in order to secure the W. Here’s to them getting it done again tonight.